Director of Education & Storytelling

Western Spirit Museum; Scottsdale (AZ); Presencial; USD 90 000 - 150 000; Tempo integral

Resumo da oferta

Western Spirit Museum in Scottsdale is seeking a Director of Education to lead the educational vision and create accessible, meaningful experiences connecting students, families, and lifelong learners with the North American West. The role oversees two areas: School & Family Learning and Public Programs, guiding staff, budget, and evaluative measures.

The Director collaborates with Collections & Exhibitions from early planning stages, aligning learning goals with exhibitions and broader museum

Qualificações

• Bachelor’s degree in education, museum studies, art history, history, public history, humanities, or a related field.
• Significant experience with increasing levels of responsibility in education, interpretation, informal learning, public programming, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to create engaging learning experiences and communicate complex subjects clearly and creatively to varied audiences.
• Experience supervising and developing staff, delegating effectively, managing budgets, and evaluating programs.
• Strong communication, organizational, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to collaborate across departments and work effectively with volunteers and community partners.
• A commitment to storytelling, accessible learning, and welcoming visitor experiences.

Responsabilidades

• Develop and lead the Museum’s education strategy in alignment with its mission, collections, exhibitions, and institutional priorities.
• Supervise, mentor, and evaluate Education staff.
• Establish annual departmental goals, priorities, work plans, and measures of success.
• Develop and manage the Education budget and allocate resources according to institutional priorities.
• Represent Education in Museum-wide planning and foster productive collaboration across departments.
• Partner with Collections & Exhibitions from the early stages of exhibition development to identify audiences, learning goals, interpretive approaches, and related programming.
• Champion storytelling that connects visitors with the Museum’s art, objects, histories, cultures, and perspectives.
• Establish educational and interpretive standards that combine accuracy and scholarship with creativity, accessibility, and meaningful audience engagement.
• Guide learning experiences and resources for varied ages, backgrounds, and abilities, both within exhibitions and across the Museum’s broader educational work.
• Set direction and quality standards for school and family learning, educator engagement, public programs, and lifelong learning, including alignment with relevant academic standards for school programming.
• Shape a varied programming calendar that complements exhibitions and explores the broader stories of the North American West.
• Lead the direction and development of a vibrant volunteer docent program, ensuring docents are prepared, supported, and valued as essential Museum storytellers.
• Ensure docent learning combines subject expertise from Collections & Exhibitions with effective teaching, interpretation, and visitor engagement practices.
• Cultivate strategic educational and community partnerships that broaden participation and strengthen the Museum’s reach.
• Use attendance, audience feedback, learning outcomes, and other measures to evaluate impact and guide continuous improvement.
• Ensure effective departmental planning, calendars, procedures, documentation, and reporting through clearly assigned staff responsibilities.
• Support educational funding opportunities, grant proposals, and reporting in partnership with Development.
• Ensure Education staff and volunteers understand and follow Museum policies, safeguarding requirements, and safety procedures.

Conhecimentos

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Relationship-building

Staff supervision

Formação académica

Bachelor’s degree in education, museum studies, art history, history, public history, humanities, or a related field

Master’s degree in education, museum studies, art history, history, public history, or a related field

Descrição da oferta de emprego

Western Spirit Museum in Scottsdale is seeking a Director of Education to lead the educational vision and create accessible, meaningful experiences connecting students, families, and lifelong learners with the North American West. The role oversees two areas: School & Family Learning and Public Programs, guiding staff, budget, and evaluative measures.

The Director collaborates with Collections & Exhibitions from early planning stages, aligning learning goals with exhibitions and broader museum